Overrunning clutch



Jan. 9, 1951 c. E. WALTON OVERRUNNING CLUTCH Filed Sept. 14, 1944 ms 2 m WWAAAAAMAVVVV vvvwAAAAAQm E.

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grwmvtoo. CECIL WALT ON Patented Jan. 9, 1951 Cecil'E. 'Walton, (New London,

the United "States "by the Conn., assignor to of America as represented *SecretaryoftheNavy JApplicationrSeptember 14, 1944, Serial No. 554,088,

4" Claims;

objects will Ibecome.apparentlaslthe present 'description proceeds.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. '1 is a plan view of thec'lutch from lthe driving end, w'ith'thecover plateremoved;

Fig. '2 is a sectional view as indicated by the lines22 ,ofZFig. 1;

Fig. 3 is 'a sectional .view similar to Fig. 2 but showing "the driving and driven sections separated; and,

Fig.4 is a schematic diagram showingithe use of the clutch in its relationship to other elements of'the mechanism .in which it is incorporated,

Referring now to Figs. "1,2 and 3,1311% clutch joins a driving 'sha'ft'ii'il to a driven:shaft"i2. The

workingpartsofthe clutch are enclosedby afixed :18 having "casei't and coveripi'ateit. 'A"'drum an 'intergal hub "26 -is 'earried an "extension sleeve 22o)? the case"! by anti=friction bearings '24 whieh are-'heldby au'etaining ring 26tonthe sleeve and'a nutiecarried ona correspondingly "threaded portion 39 of thehub 'Therlriven shaft 12 extends only partway intothe hubZt, leaving aspace 32 "which forms. abearingior'the 'endof the driving shaft i i 7 The present device establishes"'alo'ck between the driving and driven-members by wedging rollers between the inner face of'the drum'l8 and the inclined iaces orlramps formed ona member to"belocked to the drum. To this end a member 3d, hereafter-called the ramp member,

is secured to the driving shaft H3 in such a position that the protruding end of the sh'aft forms a journal 36 which runs in the "bearing 32 of the drum'zlfi. 4A 'washer38 serves to separate the ramp member from the dnim-w-l 8 when the clutch 'is assembled. The ends of them-amp member 34 are shaped to form four ramps 40 .CFig. .1). These ramps are so made that they, ineonjunction with-the inner cylindrical .surface of i-the drum 1%, form wedge-shaped spaces d2. Four rollers M are held inthese spaces by springs 43.

To control the position-of the rollers with respect to the ramps -an actuating arm lit issecured to a hub '50'-Which'-mak es aprunning fit on the driving shaft :6 as does the cover plate l6.

G0 the clutches IEhe. ends ofuthe actuating arm J8 .are .bent .over -t0 formafingers .52 which it between the two .rollersi l i at either, end offithe ramp member 3.4. These fingerseare of such .vrid'th .lthatWhen the actuating armis .p'arallelhto .ithe tramp member, the rollers are held .sufficientlyfiar -down-their respective ramps that, because. of ltheshape er the tips of the springs 1%,.Ithey .are knot in contact with :theadrllm. .Asa result there'is {no connection between theramplmember and'lthe ldrum andnhenceqnone between the Ilriving and fdriven shafts to which they are. respectivelytffixed.

IIhe actuating arm 48 is centered with respect to theramp mem'ber3'4 by means or springs""5'4 .secured at one-end to "the ramp member and bearing on the sides Ofthe actuating arm at'the other end. Relative motion between .the arm and the memberis'fliniited'by s'toppins1i6protruding from the rampLmem'ber.

vTo overcome the -combined pressure of "the springs '45 andfl and permit suificient-"rlative motion between there-mp member 34 and ".the actuatingarm fifi a friction device "58 -is provided, located 'between'the hub'tt andthe 'coverplate 1.6. Ihisiiriction device consists of .a.;pressure plate f6!) secured to 'thehub 5e and aielt disk 2. between thepressureplate .and thec'over'plate. Springs "64 fastened to' the cover; pla te t6 atton'e tend bear on the surface er the; pressure platehli vat the other with sufficientepressuretogprioduce fthedesired friction.

When the .d'rivingishait-flli fis iturned,'.ithe ramp --member 34 turns in relation to the actuating arm .48 which .is-restrained by the action of the frictiontdeviceiifi. .Theactuating arm pushes the rollers J44 which arelocated. at the tra'ilng cor- .ners .of :the ramp memberiarther out .01 engage- ,ment with .the "drum 1.8 against the pressure of .rthecorrespondin springs '45. Simultaneously vthe .rollersat the leading corners of the .ramp member are forced into engagement with the drnmlby their-related springs. Thesero'llersljam .betweenithe ramp membsrand the drum; locking Sthem together and.imparting'ltherotation of the drivingishaft ill t v .the Qdriventshaft.

When the driven-shaft izrisiturne'd, the Idriving ishaftilii beingstationary, the clutchmechanism is :in its neutral vposition andall .the vrollers i i are .held .away from the drum L8. sThis .ileaves lthe drum free to turn with the driven shaft.

Theschematic diagram; Eig. 4 illustrates an applicationof the clutch. .Amechanism .fifiiistotbe driven by any one of the poweivsonrces8,310 or vS12. Shaftsfrom these, powerrsourcesare brought together [by gearingrepresented Joy/174. :In the absence of the elutcheswepresentedby 216 eower applied at one source, for iexample .68, WOUIdshSJ/ZG to turn notonly th :mechanisrn- :66 bnt also the :other two powerzsources :mflandvlfl. ,If,ih0WBVI-.l, 16 are introduced between the power roller and engage the sources and the gearing T4 in such a manner that power can be transmitted only in the direction indicated by the arrows, power applied at any one source will be transmitted by its associated clutch through the gearing only to the mechanism 66, the other clutches free-wheeling and transmitting no power to their associated power sources.

Obviously, modifications of the form and proportions of the parts may be made to suit requirements without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention, as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a reversible automatically engaging clutch means, a driven shaft carrying a co-axial drum fixedly secured thereto, a driving shaft co-axial with said driven shaft carrying a ramp member fixedly secured thereon and adapted to fit within said drum, a pair of adjacent ramps angularly disposed with respect to each other on said ramp member, a roller positioned between each of said ramps and said drum, an arm freely rotatable on said driving shaft having a finger extendin over the end of said ramp member and between said rollers adapted to normally hold said rollers apart sufficiently to prevent clutching action between said ramps and said drum through said rollers, resilient means to hold said arm in normal central position with respect to said ramp member, resilient means to urge said rollers toward each other against said finger so as to normally maintain said clutch in disengaged position, and means responsive to the rotation of said driving shaft to move said ramp member relative to said arm to engage a desired roller with the surface of said drum.

2. In a reversible automatically engaging clutch means, a driven shaft carrying a drum fixedly secured thereto containing a co-axial guide hearing, a driving shaft carrying a ramp member fixedly secured thereto adapted to fit within said drum and a guide journal bearing extending into said guide bearing, a pair of ramps angularly disposed with respect to each other on said ramp member, a roller positioned between each of said ramps and said drum, an arm freely rotatable on said driving shaft having a finger extending over the end of the ramp member and between said rollers adapted to normally hold said rollers spaced apart sufficiently to prevent clutching action between the ramps and the drum through said rollers, resilient means to hold said arm in normal central position with respect to said ramp member and resilient means to urge said rollers toward each other against said finger so as to normally maintain said clutch in disengaged position, a housing for said clutch having a nonfriction bearing in which the drum is rotatively mounted, a cover for said housing through which the driving shaft is passed, having a friction surface around said driving shaft and a friction disk mounted on said arm resiliently urged against said friction surface for restricting the initial movement of said arm when the driving shaft is turned, thus to further disengage the trailing forward roller between the ramp and the drum so as to engage the clutch to drive the driving shaft.

3, In a reversible automatic engaging clutch means, a driven shaft carrying a drum fixedly secured thereto having a co-axial guide bearing therein, a driving shaft carrying a ramp member fixed thereon and adapted to fit within said drum and a journal extending into said guide 4 bearing, two pairs of ramps diametrically spaced on said ramp member, said ramps in each of said pairs of ramps being angularly disposed with respect to each other, a roller positioned between each of said ramps and said drum, an arm freely rotatable on said driving shaft having fingers extending over respective ends of said ramp member and between adjacent pairs of said rollers adapted to normally hold the rollers of each of said pairs spaced apart sufficiently to prevent clutching action between the ramps and the drum through said rollers, resilient means to hold said arm in normal central position with respect to said ramp member, resilient means to urge the rollers in each of said pairs toward each other against said fingers so as to normally maintain said clutch in disengaged position, and friction means operated by the acceleration of said driving shaft to move said ramp member relative to said arm to engage a selected two of said rollers with said drum.

4. In a reversible automatically engaging clutch means, a driven shaft carrying a drum fixedly secured thereon and containing a coaxial guide bearing, a driving shaft carrying a ramp member fixed thereto and adapted to fit within said drum and a journal extending into said guide bearing, two pairs of ramps diametrically spaced on said ramp member, the ramps in each of said pairs of ramps being angularly disposed with respect to each other, two pairs of rollers, each of said rollers being positioned between one of said ramps and said drum, an arm freely rotatable on said driving shaft having a pair of fingers each extending over the edge of said ramp member and between said pairs of rollers adapted to normally hold the rollers of each of said pairs spaced apart sufiiciently to prevent clutching action between the ramps and the drum through said rollers, resilient means to hold said arm in normal central position with respect to said ramp member and resilient means to urge the rollers in each of said pairs toward each other against said fingers so as to normally maintain said clutch in disengaged position, a housing for said clutch having a nonfriction bearing in which the drum is rotatively mounted, a cover for said housing through which the driving shaft is passed, having a friction surface around said driving shaft and a friction disk mounted on said arm resiliently urged against said friction surface for restricting the initial movement of said arm when the driving shaft is turned, thus to further disengage the trailing roller and engage the forward roller between the ramp and the drum so as to engage the clutch to drive the driving shaft.

CECIL E. WALTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,163,803 Bickford Dec. 14, 1915 1,456,008 Nuanes May 22, 1923 1,466,394 Fornaca Aug. 28, 1923 2,180,599 Menasco Nov. 21, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 115,043 Germany Nov. 14, 1900 290,747 Great Britain May 12, 1928 

